CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH]. LEONARD, Moses Gage (1809-1899). Manuscript document, a diary of his journey from New York to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, 17 April 1849 to 8 April 1850. 140 pages, marbled boards, hinges weak . [ With :] SEWARD, William. Autograph letter signed ("William H. Seward") to Leonard, et al., Albany, 5 January 1843, regarding a sitting for a portrait. [ With :] LEONARD. Printed speech, 1 April 1844, and engraved, monogrammed walking stick, goldheaded, with the inscription: "MGL March 17, 1832 March 17, 1892. "ON THEIR WAY TO THE LAND OF GOLD": A NEW YORKER'S GOLD RUSH DIARY A former member of Congress, and a New York businessman, Moses G. Leonard's Gold Rush diary makes for gripping reading. A choppy, sea-sick voyage took him from New York to Panama. Once there, travelers crossed the isthmus by riverboat and foot, catching a steamer on the Pacific coast side. At times contemptuous of the Panamanians, Leonard is also respectful and even beguiled by them. He found the villagers in Chagres "in a state of comparative ignorance, almost in a state of nature," yet doubted that their happiness could be improved by "civilization" and the "true religion." (pp.7-8) Staying at the American Hotel in Panama City, he learns that some 15 or 16 of his countrymen had already died on the cross-isthmus journey, "not a great number when compared to all that have passed through here (some 3,000) on their way to the land of Gold." (p.13) He gives a graphic description of a Panama City cock-fight--"I must confess I had serious scruples about attending this barbarous sport, and more particularly on the sabbath day" (p.20). And his equally minute observations about a sexually provocative "Fandango" dance show that he was fascinated and repulsed by the lascivious gyrations of the dancers. It took a while to get a steamer to California, since many boats could not make their return journey after their hands jumped ship and transformed themselves from seamen to prospectors. Leonard's San Francisco is a scene of wild energy: "One hundred vessels are moored in the bay including large and small....The town is full of life and business activity. All is bustle & hurrying. Houses are being built in a week notwithstanding the exorbitant demands for labour and material" (pp.46-47). He sets up a supply store, hoping to serve the hordes of gold diggers. But his business waxes and wanes. The unsteadiness of the mining economy, and his distance from his family in New York prompted many expressions of loneliness and depression: "Thought much of Home, felt Solemn & reflective" (p.123), "downcast in feeling" (p.132). The journal ends with Leonard making a go of it, but his heart still pulling him back to New York. He was even elected to the San Francisco City Council in 1850, but returned to New York a few years later, and served as the Provost Marshal in the Tenth Congressional District during the Civil War.
CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH]. LEONARD, Moses Gage (1809-1899). Manuscript document, a diary of his journey from New York to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, 17 April 1849 to 8 April 1850. 140 pages, marbled boards, hinges weak . [ With :] SEWARD, William. Autograph letter signed ("William H. Seward") to Leonard, et al., Albany, 5 January 1843, regarding a sitting for a portrait. [ With :] LEONARD. Printed speech, 1 April 1844, and engraved, monogrammed walking stick, goldheaded, with the inscription: "MGL March 17, 1832 March 17, 1892. "ON THEIR WAY TO THE LAND OF GOLD": A NEW YORKER'S GOLD RUSH DIARY A former member of Congress, and a New York businessman, Moses G. Leonard's Gold Rush diary makes for gripping reading. A choppy, sea-sick voyage took him from New York to Panama. Once there, travelers crossed the isthmus by riverboat and foot, catching a steamer on the Pacific coast side. At times contemptuous of the Panamanians, Leonard is also respectful and even beguiled by them. He found the villagers in Chagres "in a state of comparative ignorance, almost in a state of nature," yet doubted that their happiness could be improved by "civilization" and the "true religion." (pp.7-8) Staying at the American Hotel in Panama City, he learns that some 15 or 16 of his countrymen had already died on the cross-isthmus journey, "not a great number when compared to all that have passed through here (some 3,000) on their way to the land of Gold." (p.13) He gives a graphic description of a Panama City cock-fight--"I must confess I had serious scruples about attending this barbarous sport, and more particularly on the sabbath day" (p.20). And his equally minute observations about a sexually provocative "Fandango" dance show that he was fascinated and repulsed by the lascivious gyrations of the dancers. It took a while to get a steamer to California, since many boats could not make their return journey after their hands jumped ship and transformed themselves from seamen to prospectors. Leonard's San Francisco is a scene of wild energy: "One hundred vessels are moored in the bay including large and small....The town is full of life and business activity. All is bustle & hurrying. Houses are being built in a week notwithstanding the exorbitant demands for labour and material" (pp.46-47). He sets up a supply store, hoping to serve the hordes of gold diggers. But his business waxes and wanes. The unsteadiness of the mining economy, and his distance from his family in New York prompted many expressions of loneliness and depression: "Thought much of Home, felt Solemn & reflective" (p.123), "downcast in feeling" (p.132). The journal ends with Leonard making a go of it, but his heart still pulling him back to New York. He was even elected to the San Francisco City Council in 1850, but returned to New York a few years later, and served as the Provost Marshal in the Tenth Congressional District during the Civil War.
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